


Lives in Red and Blue

by Buried_in_CharCOL



Series: Visible Spectrum [3]
Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Attempt at Humor, Cop and Criminal AU, Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hanahaki Disease, How Do I Tag, I'll add more tags as I add chapters, Inspired by 25 Lives by Tongari, Red String of Fate, but maybe i'll change it up to -john mulaney voice- throw em off their rhythm, no beta we die like men, the general consensus is that i'll alternate between angst and fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-10-18 22:18:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17589440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buried_in_CharCOL/pseuds/Buried_in_CharCOL
Summary: I've seen you before.Maybe not here and maybe not in this lifetime, but in a different place or a different time I've seen you.Everything changes. We might meet as enemies in one life and be partners in the next or we might not even meet at all.You might have a different voice or a different face, but your eyes... they never change.In all universes and all timelines I think you're my constant.I've seen you before.Inspired by Tongari's 25 LivesOR IF YOU IGNORE THE ARTSY-FARTSY SUMMARY:Red Crackle reincarnated into different AUs and inspired by different prompts





	1. blonde

**Author's Note:**

> YALL REALLY CAN'T EXPECT ME TO HAVE A COLOR THEME AND NOT THINK ABOUT THE RED STRING OF FATE BTICH
> 
> YOU GUYS TOOK TOO LONG TO GIVE ME A REINCARNATION FIC SO NOW I GOTTA DO IT MYSELF  
> (i dont have nearly enough Writer XP to give this idea the justice it deserves so you guys will have to settle on me)  
> (sorry if i mangle this) 😬
> 
> hi friens from discord!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knight and Royal AU

_The very first time I remember you, you are blonde..._

* * *

 

It was fitting he supposed - to be in love with a person so close and yet so impossibly far out of his reach. Graham, always a pragmatist, had never been one for silly fantasies or distant dreams, but somewhere in the back of his mind he had always hoped... that perhaps... there was a chance.

A chance that perhaps they could have been together.

It was funny, because in a way they were always together. He being the Queen's loyal knight - the shadow to her sun.

The brunette knew that letting himself stray too far down that line of thought was dangerous considering he was with the object of his affections at all times. He was always there to witness her strength and capabilities. Always there to see her in all her glory, but also there to see her when she picked herself up after falling down.

Graham knew deep down that the best course of action for him would to shove those blossoming feeling down, down into his chest until they suffocated in the dark.

But no matter how hard he tried, his affections crawled like vines - burying themselves into his very bones. Could you really blame him for falling too hard and too fast to recover?

* * *

 

He remembered when he rushed into battles at her side during the war with the neighboring nation of Eliv.

After the death of the Dowager Queen the committee that ruled over the land of thieves and murderers believed that the transition of power to the new monarch would leave the country unbalanced and vulnerable - ripe for the picking. They were wrong.

Graham's first impression of Carmen was that she was a blonde, went up to just about his shoulders, she looked like she weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet, and she could fell a man twice her size with ease.

~~Later he would also find out that her name tasted like roses and blood.~~

* * *

 

Looking back on it now, Graham could say with a certain confidence that he began his fall the first time the Queen pinned him during a hand-to-hand sparring match.

When their fight began, a group of soldiers gathered off the to side to watch their commander get thrashed. Occasionally, the sounds of their brawl were interrupted with shouts of  encouragement. Interesting cheers included "yas queen" and "slay me".

After she caught him off-guard with a spin kick to his solar pexus, the woman noticed his momentary shock and tackled him. The trained knight found himself being pressed face-first into the soil with her sitting on his back and his arm being twisted in an awkward angle. After he tapped his submission, she helped him off the ground and he could help but notice how her some of her golden locks had gotten loose from her updo during their scuffle. 

In the light, the perspiration from her exertion seemed to make her sun-kissed skin glow and when she let her hair down, the locks fell about her face in gentle waves. But her eyes were what he noticed the most - during the heat of battle, they looked like a raging typhoon promising death and destruction in their restless anger, but when she looked at him with her ruby lips curled into a playful smirk, they reminded him of comforting warmth and fog rolling in over calm, lapping waters. Absently, his eyes traced the soft curve of her smile.

Carmen's teasing grin began to grow as she planted her hands on her hips. She laughed, "What's wrong soldier? Have I stolen your tongue as well as your dignity?" Realizing he had been staring for quite a while, Graham snapped himself back into the present and quickly turned away to hide his burning face.

Off to the side observing, his comrades giggled amongst themselves. "That's not all you've stolen, Queen Carmen," A brave young knight shouted before scuttling off when Graham shot him a nasty glare.

After that day, _feelings_ began to take root.

* * *

 

When she rode into the heat of battle she was a sight to behold. With enemies falling around her, the silver flash of her sword mirrored the rage in her eyes. Her blonde hair reflected in the light like the halo of an angel of death sent for divine retribution. The shine of her armor was tarnished by crimson blood - whether it belonged to her or her victims he did not know.

She was Nike the goddess of victory, and he wanted to fall to his knees at her alter in worship.

But falling for Carmen also came in the quiet moments shared between them. Like when fatigue set in after a hard won fight, and she would quietly rest her head on his shoulder to take a nap. Lately, she had begun to lay her head on his lap; sometimes sleeping, sometimes reading a book aloud to him, or sometimes simply talking about everything and nothing at all.

Those were the hardest times when he had to fight unwanted confessions and feelings from crawling up his chest and out from his lips.

~~Those were the days when his his coughing fits were the hardest.~~

~~Those were the days when the roses were darkest.~~

* * *

Graham knew five universal truths:

1) The sun would rise and set

2) The sky was blue

3) Carmen's hair was blonde

4) Her eyes were grey

5) He was deeply, irreversibly, and hopelessly in love with the Queen

 

There was also a sixth truth that he knew but wanted to ignore:

6) The roses crawling up this throat and digging themselves into his chest would kill him.

 

_But that was alright because what Carmen didn't know wouldn't hurt her._

_She had more important things to worry about besides the silly fantasies of an expendable knight._

These thoughts gave him comfort when, alone in his room, his breathing became ragged and the stench of spat up blood intermingling with roses became overbearing.

He didn't want to burden her so for now he would be content to stand by her side.

That was all he _could_ do.

 

* * *

  _The very first time I remember you, you are blonde and you don't love me back._

 

 


	2. brunette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Detective and Criminal AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (the excerpt at the start of each chapter directly connects to the previous chapter's excerpt from 25 lives)
> 
> i blame jaythesaltybastard for this. they'll know why. hi friends from discord!

_...the next time you are brunette and you do._

* * *

Carmen Sandiego had wanted to be a detective for as long as she could remember.

Every day after school, she would fight her sister Amy for the remote and plop herself in front of her family's old TV. When she won the hard-earned battle, she would adjust the antennas _just right_ so she could watch her favorite programs: true crime shows and buddy cop movies. The young girl was riveted by the thrilling chase scenes, spellbound by the explosive shoot-offs, moved by the deep bond between partners, but most of all she was intrigued by criminals and the motivations behind their schemes.

Now one could argue that exposing an impressionable child to these kinds of media would desensitize them to explicit violence and perhaps even warp their moral values. These concerns would be perfectly justified and measures would be taken to protect their young minds... if it were any household other than Carmen's.

She and her sister Amy had been adopted by Kage Gozen - the ambitious, stoic New York Chief of Police (dubbed teasingly as Shadow-san by close family and friends). Instead of discouraging his daughters from following in the footsteps of their father, he encouraged their interest in his dangerous profession. Kage enrolled his daughters in martial arts and self-defense classes, taught them how to shoot, and drilled into them the nuances of the law. Perhaps he was grooming them to become officers - maybe he wanted to carry on the family profession of law enforcement just as he took up the mantle after the retirement of his mother, Tomoe Gozen, from the same position.

Or perhaps the weeb side of him just thought the idea of having a couple of badass anime kids was cool.

(There was evidence to suggest this was the case, but if forensic pathologist Doctor Bellum ever breathed a word that she caught him Naruto running down the street to catch a suspect then he would stop bringing his homemade castella cake to the break room every Sunday. It was mutually assured destruction - nobody would end up happy in that situation.)

* * *

 Regardless of his intentions _,_ Chief Gozen ended up with two very capable, very opinionated, and very independent young women.

 Amy, always a stickler about the rules, decided to study to become a prosecutor. After seven grueling years of hard work, she cried when she finally passed the board exam and then cried some more when she realized they misprinted her last name as "Santiago" on her licence to practice law. Since the elder sibling was off doing another profession, that meant the responsibility to follow in their father's footsteps fell to Carmen. 

It was good that the girl's father instilled her with a strong sense of justice and a clear distinction between right and wrong because otherwise her obsession with criminals and the law could have gone the _other_ direction.

Can you imagine Carmen Sandiego as a criminal? _Absurd._

* * *

  ~~~~She knew from the moment she graduated from the Academy that she'd have to work twice as hard and be twice as efficient than her male counterparts to be treated with even half the respect. This challenge only fueled her drive her to push herself and become the best cop in her father's precinct. She resolved that when she usurped Chief Gozen's position (not _if_ , only _when_ ) she would leave no doubt that she earned the place for herself instead of gaining it through nepotism.

~~That wasn't to say that she hadn't already tried asking.~~

Eventually, her efforts payed off as she quickly rose from police technician, to officer, to detective. Carmen was sure that along with her trusty partner, Mike "Player" Tozier, she'd reach enough solved cases and arrests for their superiors to consider promoting them to corporals soon. They had a 98% success rate - so far, it looked like smooth sailing towards her goal. What could go wrong?

* * *

 (If you read the previous statement and thought to yourself:  _Ah, that looks like a setup to introduce someone or something that made everything go wrong..._

...You'd be absolutely correct you funky little detective.)

* * *

 The thief known as "Crackle" was the _teensy, tiny_  wrinkle in her carefully mapped out life plan towards success.

 ~~~~_~~"Evading us for the tenth time is not a small problem, Carmen."  "Shut up, Player. I totally had him that time."~~_

* * *

 He had appeared out of nowhere and jumped onto the detective's list of Top Priorities when the _Panthère de Cartier -_ a necklace crafted from glittering precious stones and white gold priced at fifty-two thousand dollars - disappeared directly from the neck of the actress known as Countess Cleo as she attended the Met Gala. She only noticed its absence when a photographer asked her out the bold fashion statement of wearing a folded piece of paper dangling from a piece of string as an accessory with her  _Ralph & Russo _evening gown.

Law enforcement quietly infiltrated the Gala when the grand theft was called in by the woman. They discreetly pulled the victim aside to question her about the crime since the last thing they needed was frenzied paparazzi, press, and celebrities causing a panic and destroying potential evidence. Cleo was inconsolable as she cooperated with the police, makeup running down her face. While Player questioned/consoled the her, Carmen's intense grey eyes studied the note left over by the thief. Her gloved hands were careful while dusting the outside folded area for prints. No dice. When she opened the note it simply read:  _the name is Graham Crackle_.

Carmen deciding that it was a stupid-ass codename, cut off the first part and dubbed him _"Crackle"._

* * *

 At first she didn't have the slightest clue as to what the thief looked like, but then she noticed that at every crime scene that had Crackle's calling card - a note usually with some flirtatious pickup line or message - there would be a tall, athletic-looking man with swept back brunette hair on the security footage who would leave  _right before_ they arrived and would turn  _right at the last second_ towards the camera as if knowing that they would be watching.

Sometimes, if Carmen squinted hard enough at the grainy footage, she could swear that the man would flash a cocky smirk that felt entirely too much like he was mocking her  _personally._

However, she didn't look closely that often because Player would tease her relentlessly about her 'checking out the suspect'.

_He would laugh, "Maybe that's why we haven't caught him yet - you have puppy love for the perp." She didn't know how else to reply except by shooting him a quick, but indignant "Shut up!"_

  ~~~~She was an independent young lady with high standards to match her high moral values who absolutely _did not_ blush whenever she opened up those notes and she absolutely  _did not_ lay awake in bed thinking about him.

* * *

"Well... shit," Carmen said aloud to herself as she stared up at the ceiling of her apartment, her short hair bedraggled from tossing and turning on her mattress as the night went on.

His motivations  _didn't make sense._

Crackle would steal an assortment of priceless items like the Olympic gold medal of athlete-turned-coach Sarah Brunt, the abstract (and disturbing) fine art paintings of the renowned Professor Maelstrom, and the bejeweled necklace of Countess Cleo along with other objects of high value. With his prizes, he could absolutely sell them with ease on the black market and gain a fortune... but that wasn't the case. After a few weeks or months at most, the items would be found in the homes of their rightful owners - it was like he didn't want to steal for the money but rather because it was like a game to him. 

It was almost like he just wanted the attention.

Carmen laughed to herself, "What a stupid idea. What kind of dumbass-"

She was startled as a sharp knock on the door broke through the silence of her apartment. Still half asleep and groggy the brunette rolled herself out of bed, thumping onto the hardwood floor. She groaned as she stood up unsteadily, checking herself over on her iPhone camera to make sure she was at least halfway decent. The bright screen of the phone momentarily blinded her as she squinted at the time. She hissed, "What the- what the fuck it's fucking three in the morning? Who the fuck?"

Suddenly alert, Carmen grabbed a her father's present from when she first moved out: a big ol' can o' mace. She stalked toward the sound of the knocking. Apparently, her visitor had already become bored while waiting as they had taken to rapping their knuckles to different beats on the wood like they were playing a drum.

When she looked through the peephole, she realized that it was the brunette suspect from all the crime scenes:

_Crackle._

* * *

 

As she swung it open, the door hit the inside wall of her apartment with a loud _bang_. He stopped mid-knock to look down at her (and the nozzle of her pepper spray) with an odd expression that seemed to show shock, apprehension, and...  _something else she couldn't recognize._  Slowly, he raised his hands up to show that he was unarmed and they stood frozen in her doorway silently sizing each other up for a few seconds. The tension felt like it could be cut through with a knife.

"So, uh..." Crackle trailed off as his eyes traveled over her black sheep onesie, "Come here often, Lambkins?"

_Huh, he's an Aussie. Why is that not surprising?_

Carmen's expression hardened.

In a flash of movement, her right hand free of the mace reached up and grabbed the collar of his shirt with an iron grip as she dragged him into her apartment. Still holding onto him, she turned slightly to kick the door shut behind them.

When she turned back, she noticed a deep rosy blush had exploded over his face.

Seeing him over the grainy footage of a security camera was _much_ different than seeing him in person. 

 _Oh no, he's hot,_ she screamed internally.

Her external expression remained stony as she advanced forwards while he was forced to move backwards, hands still in the air. Carmen shoved him onto her bed while she remained standing with the pepper spray aimed towards him; he fell onto the mattress with a yelp. "Do you do this with every strange man who shows up at doorstep in the middle of the night? Don't you think it's a tad too forward, mate? Not that I'm complaining-" "Shut up." Carmen cut off his nervous rambling.

She continued, proud that her tone didn't betray her internal freak-out, "You're going to tell me why you did what you did."

From his sitting position he looked up at her with a cocky grin, "I did a lot of things today, Red. You're gonna have to specify-"

Suddenly, the detective threw the pepper spray off the side as she leapt onto him. The woman quickly maneuvered until she ended up with one forearm at his throat, the other arm pinning his hands tightly to the mattress above his head, and both her knees squeezed securely around his hips to ensure he couldn't escape.  ~~However, escape was last thing on his mind at that moment.~~ Carmen stubbornly ignored his pink flush as she spoke, "Did I not tell you shut the fuck up, Crackle? Did I fucking stutter?" He slowly shook his head under her grip. "I'm going to let you get up, and you're going to tell me why you went through all the time and effort to steal all those things only to give them back. I'm not playing around - if you fucking twitch wrong I'm going to knock you out cold and with the rest of the force will be here before you can even blink. Nod if you understand." He slowly nodded and she moved herself back until she was standing again.

Although their contact had ended as quickly as it had begun, Carmen could still feel the way his pulse fluttered against her skin.

 Crackle sat up from his previous position on the bed while still looking up at her as he rubbed his neck, "First of all, the name's Graham. My friends call me Gray and I suppose you should call me that considering how close we were just a few seconds ago." She huffed and crossed her arms, glaring at him.

He continued, "Alright, so you asked me why I would rob shit and return it right? Well it's simple, there is no tragic backstory or puzzle I just wanted to get your attention." He studied her face to gauge her reaction and almost laughed at the way her expression could only be described as 'carmen.exe has stopped working'.

The cogs in her head turned, still processing his reason (and confession) when she finally let out a hysterical giggle, "I had my suspicions, but I didn't think anyone would be that much of a dork." He looked at her offended, "What? Theft is absolutely a valid language of love if you're trying to lure in a detective!" His upset tone threatened to turn her giggling into unattractive chortling, "Says who? What disaster of a person recommended this to you?" "My friend Jean-Paul said that's how he snagged his husband!" The thief defended. She stopped for a second, thinking about the familiar name, "Oh yeah, I know Antonio and his husband. He totally would've given stealing as a flirtation technique." Carmen made a mental note to confront the couple later about their unorthodox relationship advice.

The detective thought for a moment, "Wait, I hadn't even met you before you starting stealing things. Why me?" Graham looked off to the side and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, "I was just visiting to precinct to drop off something I borrowed from Antonio when I saw you working on a case with your partner. I thought you were cute so asked Jean-Paul for his advice, and the rest is history." She looked at him with exasperation, "I can't fucking belie- I would've gone out with you if you just asked me like a normal person, dipshit! You didn't need to break the law! I needed to do so much paperwork because of you!" Carmen waved her hands about to help express her frustration. 

Graham looked at her as he seemed to think something over, "Well, what if I ask you out like a normal person now? What do you say about meeting me at that little cafe on 20th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue? Maybe on Friday at 8:00 PM?" Carmen considered him for a moment, "Okay, I'll meet you there... if you promise to stop stealing stuff and just date me like anyone else would." His mouth twisted into a cocky smirk, "No promises." She groaned as she grabbed his elbow, hauling him up and started to walk him back towards her door, "Why did I think you would reply any differently?  Just... remember to bring your loot back to their owners."

"Of course, Lambkins"

"Don't call me that."

She opened the door and just as Graham was about the step out, she yanked him down so they were face-to-face; they were both hit with a sudden sense of déjà vu.

Carmen's stormy grey eyes peered into his as she spoke, "I just thought that you should know something before you leave: If I find out everything you've talked about was a lie? Or if you just disappear on me and don't show up on that date? I  _will_ hunt you down, I  _will_ find you, and I'll do worse things to you than what I did earlier when you got smart with me." Her soft voice was filled with warning.

Graham met her gaze with his own, his eyes eyes half-lidded, "Bold of you to assume that's not exactly what I want."

A rosy blush spread across her face as he smirked.

Carmen abruptly pushed him out the doorway and slammed it shut behind him, listening with her back to the wood until the sound of his footsteps in the hallway faded away.

She rubbed her face, tired from the events of the night as she shuffled back to her bed. Right as she was about to take a running leap onto the soft, inviting blankets, she noticed a folded piece of paper on her pillow. She hadn't even noticed him leave it there.

The brunette laughed to herself as she picked up the calling card and read aloud, "I’m supposed to be the thief, and yet you’ve stolen my heart."  _What a dork,_ she thought to herself.

~~And if Carmen's face heated up _just a little bit_ then Player wasn't there to tease her about it.~~

* * *

_~~~~_ ~~~~_The very first time I remember you, you are blonde, and you don't love me back... the next time you are brunette and you do._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not pictured:
> 
> -Gray going home and screaming into his pillow cause he really Did That and asked out the girl he likes
> 
> \- they meet up later on when Carmen interrogates him about a new bout of thefts. she get's frustrated and raises her hand as if to slap him in an empty threat and Gray just fuknifin leans forward and licks his lips. Carmen is shook as hell.


	3. interlude??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fantasy au?? honestly idk what this chapter is either but i hope yall enjoy it
> 
> there's magic and deception so That's Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am sO SORRY THIS FIC HAS BEEN DEAD FOR 100000 YEARS AND BLESS YOU IF YOU'RE STILL HERE READING

If there's one thing Graham Smith knows how to do it's lie.

Lying is like breathing - simple, natural, and necessary if he wants to survive. This much he knows.

The Virtues that the common folk drill into their children are naive and guileless. The traits like Kindness, Charity, and Honesty? They're all trivial, if not _utterly stupid_ concepts to him; the reason why they are down in the dirt while his family live amongst Kings and Queens.

So simple and… human.

Smiths, along with the other nobles, know to do what must be done; their tenants are of Survival.

\- Do not be Kind for Kindness is weakness.

\- Do not be Charitable for you will lose what is rightfully yours.

\- Do not be Honest for Honesty is vulnerability.

These are the rules he is raised on.

He is raised to know that Smiths do not follow the rules of those of the low born.

No, Smiths are like the stars that prophesies and legends are pulled from. They burn brilliantly, beautifully - a sight to behold. And when they die, they die like stars as well - dragging down everyone and everything into the inescapable event horizon with them.

It is ironic isn’t it?

People focus so much on how stars shine so radiantly and blisteringly blind that they forget about the abyss that allows them to be seen.

For, as the saying goes, " _there is no light without dark_."

And he knows the dark oh-so-well.

This is why Caelum learns to stop fighting the void.

He, along with siblings, learn to harness it - to use it and need it like air. Galaxies and constellations spiral at their fingertips and the rush feels like nothing he’s ever dreamt of. But they learn to use the darkness in more ways than simple parlor tricks.

They all change.

Michael becomes silent and watchful - the Herald he was always meant to be.

Kimiko displays her vibrant colors proudly. People are too blinded and too many lightyears away to see that she has been extinguished years ago.

But between all his siblings, Graham has to say that he feels the most kinship with his sister Sheena. While they both excel in the magicks ~~that make them valuable to the Royal Family~~ that their family is known for, they also learn to lie.

Sheena lies by swallowing her fire and playing the part of a dutiful housewife.

(He knows it’s a lie because he knows she’s planning something by the way her eyes glint dangerously when her husband places his hand on the small of her back.)

Graham lies by putting on his own mask. It’s _cold_ and _unforgiving_ and he hates how it drives everyone away, but at the same time a part of him _relishes_ in the power that it gives him. It would be so, so easy to just sink into the role wouldn’t it? To let the old Graham rot and die? But for some reason, he doesn’t let that happen. Instead, he learns to lie well enough to fool even his mentor – the Liar of Liars. He lies until she believes that he is ready to bid for the throne.

To further their family instead of the people.

But that’s where she’s wrong.

Because despite the pillars on which he is raised, Gray learns what is right and what is wrong. He sees glimpses of justice, and truth, and kindness, and what he sees makes him _yearn_.

So that’s why he learns to use the dark – that’s why he learns to lie.

Because lying is like breathing to him; another deep breath before he is dragged down by the tide, another deep breath before he can find his way to the shore and breathe in the sunlight because he is oh-so-tired of drowning in the night.

That is why when the Queen’s Knight looks at him with the fury of the scorching sun, his breath almost catches in his throat for she is truly a sight to behold. She smiles, but he can see that she struggles not to burn him with her barely contained inferno. It is all too easy to rile her up and he tries to ignore how the slight of seeing her look properly chastised feels like bringing a goddess to her knees.

So as they part ways, he tells himself that the feeling is nothing – a simple infatuation.

But despite all this time, there is one person he cannot lie to: himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry for this

**Author's Note:**

> come join the red crackle discord to scream with us: https://discord.gg/4xF6nyE


End file.
